


Bound by Fear

by veronicabrand



Category: Pet Shop of Horrors
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 14:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9128269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veronicabrand/pseuds/veronicabrand
Summary: After trying some of Count D's tea, Leon wakes up to find himself transformed into a lion and stuck inside a cage.





	

Count D would turn him into a goddamn lion thought Leon as he paced in his cage. He could just see the Count’s upturned purple lips, smirking at the thought. The Count was putting some kind of crazy Chinese herb in his tea that definitely wasn’t legal and would definitely interest his fellow cops...if he could even get anyone to believe him. But who would? He was nothing more than a talking lion. Or, at least a thinking lion. Leon had never heard any of the pets speak, although the way the Count’s customers acted, you’d think they were human.  
Leon didn’t care what anyone thought. He had a hunch that the pet shop was merely a front for human trafficking and if he could get out of here he’d have proof. Or would he? Lions don’t tend to walk into the LAPD, and if they did they wouldn’t walk out alive, that was for damn sure.  
  
It all started with a fresh homicide committed under mysterious circumstances and it continued with tea and if Leon had his way, it would end with a nasty bite to the Count’s jugular. An ex-military officer with a crew-cut and buck teeth surfaced one morning in a public park, body ripped to shreds. LAPD forensics couldn’t identify what kind of scratch marks he had, but talk of a giant bird and talons came up. Leon knew this murder had D written all over it and let everyone fucking know it, but of course no one fucking cared. The whole precinct could get mauled by an alligator probably and no one would even think D had lifted a taloned finger.  
Leon knew he had to get to the bottom of what was going on and he knew D was behind it all. Lately, it was beginning to feel like D was behind everything in his life. A new murder? D. Couldn’t sleep at night? D. Spoiled milk? D was somehow behind that, that crazy motherfucker. And it wasn’t like anyone in his lie questioned that thought process anyway. Okay, so Jill thought he was misguided. Not wrong per se, but at least she didn’t laugh him out of her office. And, well, Jill was it. He didn’t have any family to tell about D. At least, not out here in California. And it wasn’t like the family he did stay in touch with cared enough to ask him about work anyhow. A dead mom, an AWOL dad, and a distant sister don’t really count for family. He knew he had a little brother named Chris, but he had never met him and their mom died during birth. It was probably for the best his sister took Chris in. There were days Leon couldn’t even get out of bed, much less raise a kid.  
  
“Still asleep?” Count D entered the room, robes billowing behind him. Even with newly heightened senses, Leon probably wouldn’t have heard him. D placed a bowl on the ground, filled with raw meat. “You must eat something my king of the jungle. Lions need meat, yes?” Leon swatted away the bowl, taking extra pleasure in hearing it smash against the floor. D, being the bastard that he was, didn’t even bat an eye, like he was just expecting Leon to do exactly that.  
“I’ll bring something later,” said D. The door swung shut behind him and Leon found himself enveloped in darkness once again. 

  
Turns out the ex-military guy was named Chad and had left behind a grieving widow. She wouldn’t talk to Leon when he came by and he couldn’t help but wonder if him being a man in uniform played into that. After all, military and police guys stuck together and if she had been traumatized by guys like Chad, she wouldn’t be welcoming to guys like Leon.  
“It was awful. The whole marriage.” That was the most Leon got out of her and it looked like that was all he would ever get. But D would know. D always felt the need to meddle in other people’s families, twisting them into something warped.  
  
After counting the ceiling tiles for what felt like an eternity, D came back into the room, bearing two bowls, one with meat, the other filled with a red liquid. This time--maybe it was the hunger or maybe it was the thirst--Leon ate and drank his fill. Somehow, he knew this time would be different than yesterday, when he had practically ripped the Count’s door off its hinges, demanding answers. D didn’t work that way. You got answers when he wanted to give them--if his answers could even be called that. They always seemed to resemble folk tales and this time had been no different.  
  
“Mr. Rogers was a dangerous man,” said D. “He kept everyone he knew bound by fear. Always angry. Always ready for a fight. He couldn’t leave what he had seen on the battlefield at home.” Leon took another sip of tea, trying to remain calm, like Jill had said he should. But if D kept on about Chad Rogers like he was, spinning a yarn that could be posted in the National Enquirer, then what was the point? Calmness was for real stories, not this bullshit.  
“His anger manifested as a lion and when he could no longer control the lion, he was ripped apart.” D smirked at Leon, just as Leon began to shake and quiver. The room went black and the last thing Leon remembered was D’s purple lipped smile.  
  
And so, Leon waited. A red drink had gotten him into this mess and a red drink, he somehow knew, would get him out. It was all a hallucination, it had to be. Chad Rogers probably had red tea too and committed suicide, thinking a lion was attacking him. D and his sick games. Always trying to change people. Was D even human? Did D even have a family? The pet shop might have belonged to D’s grandfather, but if he was off traveling the world, maybe them being related didn’t count. After all, what good is a family you never see?  
Leon knew he should visit Chris, but he didn’t know how. It would be too much work to contact his sister. She’d be upset they never talked. And he honest to God couldn’t help but be reminded of his mom when he saw Chris. It wasn’t his fault she was dead, but that didn’t change the past. It didn’t change the pain. And whether he was stoned right now or he really was a lion, nothing would change his fucked-up life.  
He really was alone. The cage existed to keep him in the pet shop, but honestly, who would break into save him? Half the LAPD hated him, the other half thought he was crazy and pitied him. Jill would probably swing by the pet shop, but whether that was to look for Leon or seek comfort from the Count was anybody’s guess. She might have a clue that D had something to do with the disappearance, but she’d probably be reluctant to charge him. Leon didn’t even know his neighbors.  
An iciness went through him as the room faded to black. When he woke up, he was back in his bed in his apartment. A quick look in the mirror confirmed he was now human. No claws. No fur. No fangs. The day lay spread out before him, yearning to be filled. But with what? Who did he have to visit? He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing D, and he wasn’t sure that being turned into an animal--or thinking he had been turned into an animal--was why.  
He checked the newspaper lying outside his door--it had been 24 hours since he had gone to the pet shop. No one had checked on him in that time. And, in that moment, Leon realized he would have liked a phone call from somebody. An image of Chris flashed in his mind, although he couldn’t really say why.  
Fuck it all, he thought. He picked up the phone and decided to give his sister a call.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I wanted to explore more about Leon's family and his relationship to them and the ways in which fear can hold us back from having relationships with our own families. I chose to set the story before Chris comes to live with Leon. I also remember Chris being raised by Leon's sister, but I could be wrong. I didn't choose to give her a name and I honestly don't remember if she even had one in the manga or not. I also decided that Leon's dad is just missing. I may write a fic in the future focusing more on Leon's dad and their relationship. If anyone remembers the names of Leon's parents, let me know! If anyone remembers if Chris is really being raised by Leon's sister or if she has a name, feel free to message me. I really need to go back through the series to remember everything for sure.


End file.
